An initiative that promotes no-strings-attached financial assistance for new parents could be coming soon to Ypsi, according to a June 9 talk given by its founder at Eastern Michigan University (EMU).

Dr. Mona Hanna, a nationally recognized leader in mother and newborn health and the founder of Rx Kids, spoke at EMU's Student Center ballroom in an event co-sponsored by the A2Y Chamber and the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation.

Hanna was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World and recognized as one of USA Today’s Women of the Century for her role in uncovering the Flint water crisis and its effect on children. But that wasn't enough for Hanna.

She says she and her partners were doing good work, but were treating symptoms instead of their root cause: poverty. She says families are often at their poorest when one partner is pregnant and may have to miss work and paychecks for weeks or months. An infant costs an average of $20,000 to raise for one year, according to the parenting website Baby Center.

"When I'm taking care of kiddos, so often I want to literally prescribe away poverty," she says. "We know that when kids are born into poverty, when it's concentrated, when your neighbors are poor, it is like a poison. It is a pathogen. It makes it hard for kids to be healthy. They miss appointments, developmental issues, and [have] higher rates of chronic disease."

These challenges prompted Hanna to found Rx Kids, which was first introduced in Flint. Pregnant moms in participating communities receive a lump sum of $1,500 and then $500 a month for six or 12 months. Early results show impacts ranging from lessened food insecurity to lower rates of anxiety and depression. Moms are smoking less and going to more prenatal appointments. 

Cash assistance to families with young children is common in other countries, including England, where Hanna was born. It's universal and unconditional, so no proof of income is required – just verification that someone lives in the community that is eligible for Rx Kids funds.

Hanna says the program proved so effective in Flint that it has been rolled out in other locations, including Kalamazoo, Pontiac, several communities in Wayne County, and five counties in the Upper Peninsula. Hanna says the U.P. has its own challenges, as resources can be sparse in rural areas.

Representatives from the Washtenaw County Health Department and local elected officials attended Hanna's talk to learn how they might bring the program to Ypsi. Hanna noted that Ypsi is on her list of communities to target next but didn't offer a specific timeline for a rollout here.

She says the program tends to have bipartisan support in the communities where it's rolled out because it's limited in scope to no more than 12 months, it acts as an economic stimulus, and constituents often reach out to their representatives to request the program in their ZIP code.

"This program is being seamlessly delivered, plug and play," Hanna says. "It's already built and administratively efficient, and we're hoping to come to Ypsilanti soon."